Device for cleaning cylinders



w. Kool-1 DEVICE FOR CLEANING CYLINDERS Jan. 24, 1956 Filed DeC. 24, 1952 Fgg. a

nited States Patent() DEVICE FOR CLEANING CYLINDERS Werner Koch, Onenbach (Main), Germany, assignor to Faber & Schleicher Aktiengesellschaft, Oifenbach (Main), Germany, a German body corporate Application December 24, 1952, Serial No. 327,883 Claims priority, application Germany January 4, 1952 Claims. (Cl. 101-425) It is usual, for instance in connection with rotary printing machines, to clean the printing cylinders by hand as by means of a sponge dipped into the cleaning liquid. Such procedure is inconvenient and time consuming because the machine must be started and stopped frequently at short intervals before all parts of the cylinder have been reached and cleaned.

It has been proposed to clean the cylinder by mechanical means, for instance by the employment of cleaning rollers rotating in a liquid container and by scraping off the soaked color from the cylinder by means of Scrapers or so-called doctor blades.

These and other mechanical means did not prove very successful and it is, therefore, the main or general object of the invention to provide means which, though mechanical, will enable a very close approach to the hand method outlined above.

With this and other objects in view the invention consists in the provision of a container for the cleaning liquid in which a cleaning roller is revolubly arranged and which is provided with a liquid absorbing sleeve adapted to be pressed into contact with the printing cylinder to be cleaned. The said cleaning roller, in accordance with the invention, is pressed upon from below by a pressure roll for squeezing out the used liquid contained in the sleeve of absorbent material, and from above by a similar pressure roll for regulating the quantity of liquid admitted thereto for the cleaning of the printing cylinder. Means are provided for moving and keeping the cleaning roller in its working position on the cylinder to be cleaned, the arrangement and weight distribution of the container and the parts arranged therein being such as to cause the device falling away from the cylinder by its own weight as soon as the contacting means are withdrawn.

lt is preferable to position the rst mentioned pressure roll for the pressing out of the used liquid within the liquid ofthe container as aforesaid, whereby the liquid absorbing roller will be thoroughly washed-out in the liquid.

For properly drying the printing cylinder by the use of the cleaning roller after the cleaning operation, provision is made for the liquid absorbing material of the cleaning roller being wrung out by the upper pressure roll, so that any trace of liquid left on the cylinder may eventually be removed by the thus dried roller moving over the surface of the printing cylinder.

The accompanying sheet of drawings diagrammatically illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention by way of example. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a cross section through the new cleaning device, and

Fig. 2 a longitudinal section on the line I-I of Fig. l with parts being shown in elevation.

In the liquid container 1 is revolubly journaled the cleaning roller 2 which is provided with a liquid absorbing sleeve 3 of sponge, viscose material, or the like, and preferably covered by an outer sleeve of cloth or the like. The roller 2 is rotated from a pulley 5 of the machine, or by means of an individual drive. The cleaning liquid 6 is filled into the container 1 through an inlet 7 and can be withdrawn therefrom by the outlet 8 at the bottom thereof. A pressure roll 9 is provided underneath the roller 2 which serves to press the used liquid out of the sponge 3 and the outer sleeve 4.

The pressure roll 9 is adjustable in relation to the roller 2 and for that reason is journaled in square blocks 10 one at each side of the container, where they are movable in vertical guides 11 and 12. Each block 1t) is provided with a lug 13 having a tapped hole therein, through which a screw spindle 14 is passed which extends to the outside of the container where it terminates into a milled head l5. By turning the screw spindle 14 the pressure roller 9 can be raised or lowered so as to more or less press against the liquid absorbing sleeves 3 and 4 in the degree desired to squash out the used liquid from the said sleeves.

Another, similar, pressure roll is provided laterally above the cleaning roller 2, which serves for regulating the quantity of liquid to be admitted tothe roller 2 for the cleaning of the printing cylinder 17. For this purpose the pressure roll 16 is journaled in square blocks 18 similar to the blocks 10 just described and moving in guides 19, 20 in which they are adjustable by means of a screw spindle 21 and counter nut 22.

It is also possible to remove any liquid which may still adhere to the cylinder after cleaning by lifting the roller 2 to a position above the liquid in the container, so that the pressure roll 16 firmly squeezes any remaining liquid out of the sleeves 3 and 4, whereupon the said sleeves will be able to take up any remains of liquid which may have been left on the cylinder surface.

In order to move the aforedescribed cleaning device conveniently into and out of the working position, the container l is positioned in bracket arms 24 which are pivotally xed in the machine frame 23 by means of bolts 25. The said pivot bolts 25 are so positioned in relation to the container, that the distance from the vertical medial plane passing through the bolts 25 and container to the rear of the latter is greater than the distance extending to the printing cylinder 17. Thus, when not in use, the container tips away from the cylinder owing to the greater weight on its oli-side. For moving the container with its cleaning roller 2 into its working position, a screw 26 is arranged upon a tie, or other member, in the machine. When, by turning the screw 26, the container has been turned about its pivot 25 into its working position with the roller 2 in contact with the cylinder 17, the position of the screw 26 is fixed by means of a lock nut 28 being tightened against the block 29 which is fixed by the screws 30 to the tie 27. In the swung-back position of the device the container 1 rests by its own weight against the tie 27.

The device according to the invention may be .fixed to the frame 23 of the machine whenever its use is required, but it is preferable to keep it permanently attached thereto in the manner just described. In the drive of the roller 2 care is to be taken to impart to it only a moderate speed in order to prevent parts of the cleaning liquid being thrown into the machine.

In the foregoing, a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described and shown in the drawings. It must be understood, however, that the invention is not limited thereto, nor to the cleaning of printing machine cylinders, but that it may be applied wherever similar conditions call for the cleaning of rollers or cylinders in any different type of machine.

What I claim is:

l. A device for cleaning cylinders, comprising, in cornbination with a cylinder and a liquid container adjacent the said cylinder, a revoluble cleaning roller of waterabsorbing material in said container partly submerged in the liquid therein, a pressure roll substantially below said cleaning roller for pressing out the used liquid therefrom, means for adjusting the said pressure roll in relation to the cleaning roller, another pressure roll substantially above the said cleaning roller for pressing on the said roller thereby to regulate the quantity of liquid admitted for cleaning, and hand-operable means for moving said container into operative contact of its cleaning roller with the said cylinder.

2. A device for cleaning cylinders as claimed in claim 1, in which the pressure roll for regulating the quantity of liquid is also adjustable in relation to the cleaning roller.

3. A device for cleaning cylinders, comprising, in combination with a cylinder and a liquid container adjacent the said cylinder, a revoluble cleaning roller of waterabsorbing material in said container partly submerged in the liquid therein, a pressure roll in said container below the said cleaning roller for pressing out the used liquid therefrom, a bearing block at each end of said pressure roll for revolubly supporting said pressure roll, guides for moving said blocks in relation to the cleaning roller, a screw-spindle for moving said blocks along saidV guides, another pressure roll in said container above said cleaning roller for pressing on said cleaning roller to thereby regulate the quantity of liquid admitted to the said roller, and means for moving said container into contact of its roller with the cylinder to be cleaned.

4. A device for cleaning cylinders as claimed in claim 3, in which the pressure roll above the cleaning cylinder is likewise journaled in blocks which are adapted to move in4 guides and in whichv a screw spindle is provided for effecting such movement.

5. In a device for cleaning cylinders, in combination with a cylinder, a liquid container adjacent the said cylinder and a cleaning roller partly submerged in the liquid of said container, a sleeve of liquid-absorbing material on said cleaning roller for contact with the said cylinder, a pressure roll in said liquid container above and in contact with the said cleaning roller, means for adjusting said pressure roll toward and away from said cleaning roller thereby to regulate the quantity of liquid to be taken up by the said cleaning roller, and means for moving said cleaning roller into operative contact with the cylinder to be cleaned.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,082,409 Cormack Dec. 23, 1913 1,154,002 Crump et al. Sept. 21, 1915 1,442,098 Sague Jan. 16, 1923 1,825,837 Von Webern Oct. 6, 1931 2,341,020 Curtis Feb. 8, 1944 2,363,817 Taylor Nov. 28, 1944 2,393,992 Kauifeld Feb. 5, 1946 2,465,160 Levenhagen et al Mar. 22, 1949 

